My Violin Tutorial
by She'sAManiac
Summary: To encourage Izzy's intellect, Carla decided to take up the violin. But she gets a shock when he tutor is revealed. Meanwhile, Elliot is worried that she won't get a decent guy after Keith.
1. My Child's Intellect

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-This isn't the story I took time out to write. I'm posting that one on Halloween! Anyway, it's nice to be back! ****These will only be one page chapter, but you shall enjoy daily updates (hopefully). Enjoy!**

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table. A little satisfied gurgle came from the baby carrier where Izzy was soundly sleeping. Carla groaned. Her day off and she was doing this! She'd rather have been doing rounds with Elliot. But instead she was stuck in the doctor's lounge with Izzy (it was the nanny's day off too), waiting for Turk to finish surgery.

She was reading leaflets on "encouraging your child's intellect". It was ridiculous; she knew Izzy would be a smart kid like she was when she was little. Although she couldn't speak for Turk…but she wanted her daughter to get into a good school. And apparently, this was the best way to do it!

She sighed. She'd already considered, and rejected, all those stupid psychological methods. Your child will be smart if they listen to Bach? Yeah, right. Encourage mathematics and literature from a young age. Nuh uh! She had better things to be doing with her time!

Then a leaflet caught her eye, and she picked it up. Encourage your child to learn a musical instrument? Well, that was easy! And practise would only take…ten minutes a day? Yeah, that seemed like a good option!

But which one? Drum kit? More than likely Turk would try to steal it and start a band with JD and Rowdy…same for guitars…brass instruments were far too loud. Strings? Yeah, she liked the idea of future-Izzy playing a violin!

But one of her methods was that if you wanted something done you had to do it yourself. If she wanted to encourage Izzy, she would have to learn the violin herself. Well, the notice board was full of junk mail advertising that sort of thing!

She stood up, and walked over to the pin board. Hm…there was plenty of crap up there! Some idiot had posted the picture from the Janitorial which showed Turk kicking the crap out of JD, and stuck a post-it-note underneath which read _Gay Bumping Five_! Probably Todd…

Then she found it.

_Interested in learning the violin? Qualified teacher, lessons 10 an hour. Contact…_

Then a lengthy email address.

Carla sighed, and sat down back at the table. She took her laptop out of her bag, and flipped it on, checking on Izzy as she did so. She quickly tapped out an email, and sent it. Then Turk came into the lounge, and she turned off the computer.

"How's my little Puerto Rican princess?" he asked, bending down to kiss her. Carla squirmed away.

"Turk! I'm Dominican!"

"I knew that, baby! I was just testing you! Come on, Pickle, let's get lil' Gherkin home!"

Her husband picked up the baby carrier, and they left the hospital.

Later that evening, when Carla checked her emails, she found she had a reply from the violin person.

_Dear Miss. Espinosa. It'll be a pleasure to teach you the violin. Please stop off on Saturday at 2 pm at…_

Then an address, directions, details. Boring stuff.

So Carla found herself, on Saturday at 2pm, standing outside a stranger's house. She pressed the doorbell with a quivering hand. Then the door opened. She was shocked to see who was standing there.

"You?"

"You!"

**Note-Ooh, cliffhanger! I want lost of reviews or I'll delete! Hah, blackmail! It's nice to be back…**


	2. My First Lesson

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-****Thanks for all the lurvely reviews! Seriously made my day! You damn folks all guessed! Oh well…I don't know which hand Carla uses, so I'm saying right because that's the hand I use to play violin.**

"You?"

"You!"

"Scary-nurse wife!"

"Janitor? Since when have you played violin?"

"Oh, because I'm a Janitor I can't spend my time perfecting a musical instrument?"

Carla sighed, and leant against the door frame, giving him a death glare. Janitor immediately backed away slightly.

"Come in, Carla…"

Carla walked into the house, shutting the door behind her. Despite her anxieties, the house was impeccably neat and tidy. It seemed pretty much like an ordinary American household, despite the occasional mounted stuffed animal, with cream walls and a beige couch, which she tentatively sat down on. There was a music stand in the corner, surrounded by a few stray sheets of music paper.

She caught sight of a few envelopes, and bent over to read the address.

"Captain Billy Stinkwater? That's your real name?"

"It's what it says on my birth certificate" Janitor replied. He crouched down, and unzipped a long case. He took out a violin, and looked at Carla.

"Hold out your arm" he instructed. Carla did so, unsure of what he would do. After all, this was the Janitor, the person who had been tormenting Bambi for years and years! But all he did was hold the wooden instrument out, and measured against her arm.

"I'd say you're about a full size…maybe a three quarter…" he muttered to himself. "Yeah, this'll do!"

He handed her the violin. Carla picked it up, and ran her fingertips over the strings, listening to the metallic noise that emitted from the strumming. Then the Janitor handed her a bow.

"Ok, stand up"

Carla stood.

"We're gonna start with position. See that little black ditch? That's the chinrest. You rest your chin on it!"

Carla rolled her eyes. Duh! She wasn't used to being told what to do, not since high school in Chicago.

"Ok, are you left or right handed?"

"Right"

"Ok. So the violin goes on your left shoulder, just in the crook between your shoulder blade and your neck. Now hold you arm up like a power fist…yeah, that's good, but unclench your hand, and twist it a little to the left. Good! Now hold the violin top, the little curly bit, in the palm of your hand. Don't let your arm fall!"

Carla inwardly groaned. This was not her idea of fun. But oh well, it was for the greater good! Elliot was going out on her first date since Keith tonight…wonder how she was doing…?


	3. My Worst Ever Date

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-****Thanks for reviews! You don't know how much it means…actually, if you write yourself then you probably do… I think Elliot is quite OOC in this chapter, so sorry for that! Thanks SockFiend for pointing out that Carla's a lefty, but I think I'm gonna keep her right just for this. Anyway, on with the show…**

Elliot sat in the restraunt, looking at the man across the table from her. After giving up at the hospital she had decided to try internet dating, and so far she had been lucky! The guy she had opted for was gorgeous: black hair and olive eyes! His name was Ben.

"So…Ben…" Elliot grinned flirtatiously whilst digging into her steak. "What do you do?"

"I'm an accountant" Ben smiled. "You?"

"I'm a Private Practise physician" said Elliot. She was so busy smiling at Ben that she didn't notice her knife slip on the meat until it was too late, and her favourite white blouse was spattered with bloody steak-juice.

"Frick!" she yelled. Half the restraunt turned to look at her, before resuming their meals. She dabbed at her top with a paper napkin, before turning at smiling at her date again.

"Sorry…so, tell me about your life!"

"Well, there's not much to tell" Ben replied. "I was in the Navy for a short spell. And then I got into accounting, unbelievable! It was round about then my divorce came through…"

"What about before that?" Elliot interrupted, not wanting to get onto the topic of ruined marriages.

"Well…I didn't have such a good time at school, didn't feel comfortable. I always got on well with women; they helped me feel less different. But something was always wrong; I could never put my finger on it…"

A waiter bent down to pick up a dropped dishcloth. Elliot began to look…before realising that Ben was looking too, with a dreamy look on his face! Suddenly, Elliot clocked, and her face fell. She made her excuses, and left the restraunt in a hurry.

Damn it! Of all the cute guys she could have chosen to date tonight she had to pick the confused gay guy! Just her luck. Her life had been perfect with Keith. Why couldn't she just love him like she used to? No, that was out of the question. Since the break up, she had stood by as he turned from a respectable intern to a sour man who only insulted her when he saw her.

Would she ever get a decent guy? Would she ever fulfil her lifelong dream of getting married and having kids? She was already on the good side of thirty!

She flipped open her cell phone and hastily tapped in Carla's number. Voicemail. Then she tried JD. No answer. Then Turk, Jordan, Melody. Hell, she even tried Dr Cox! Nobody answered.

She was so preoccupied with her phone that she didn't notice the sidewalk finish. She tripped on the curb, and her shoe heel broke in two. She fell and hit her head on a lamppost.

"Frick on a stick…"


	4. My Interrupted Practice

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-****I am officially changing my Penname to Cinnamon-Bear. Like it? Me and my friends are Cinnamon Bear, Honey Bear and Fudge Bear! Anyway…**

Carla took the violin out of the case, and laid her practice sheet on the table. She had to play for ten minutes, as instructed. She had plenty of time; Turk was on-call that night, so she was all alone with Izzy.

She rested the bow on the string, holding it like the Janitor had told her. Then she took a deep breath, and drew the bow towards her.

She had expected a beautiful, perfect note. But the indescribable noise that emitted instead reminded her of a cat wailing. She winced, and tried again. Still the same. She sighed. Maybe she was playing the wrong note? But how could she be, she was only playing open strings?

She tried again. Was she pressing down too hard? She tried it lighter, and this time the smooth, clean note she had wanted first time round echoed round the room. She smiled to herself.

"Hey! This isn't so hard…"

She tried again on E-string, and it didn't sound too bad. Neither did any of the other strings. She set the instrument down and groaned. Did she really have to do this for ten minutes? It was so boring!

Suddenly, her cell bleeped on the coffee table. She picked it up.

"Hello?"

"_Hey, Carla, it's me"_

"Hey, Elliot! What's up?"

"_I'm having a midlife crisis_!"

"Again? Ok, hit me"

"_I think I made a mistake not marrying Keith coz I dated this guy last night and it turned out he was gay but didn't know it, and it reminded me of the time my brother Bradley, the gay one, he made friends with this foreign exchange student but it turned out that the student wanted to sleep with him, and…_"

"Elliot, calm down!" Carla interrupted. "Does this have anything to do with why you're calling me?"

"…_Not really…_"

"So why are you calling me? I'm kinda busy!"

"_Well, I tried calling you last night but your phone was off_!"

"I was busy! Anyway, why are you calling?"

"…_I think I made a mistake not marrying Keith…_"

"What? Why?"

"_I don't think I'm ever gonna get it that good again, you know? Keith was sweet and kind and amazing…_"

"But you didn't love him!"

"_Maybe I could've, if it just stopped being such a commitaphobe_!"

"Stop kidding yourself. You did the right thing"

"_Really_?"

"This is coming from a happily married mother: yes!"

"_Thanks, Carla…bye_!"

Elliot put the phone down on the other end. Carla sighed, and picked up the violin again. Only eight minutes to go…


	5. My Phone Contacts

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-****Ok, so I couldn't change my username coz my frickin' computer said it was already taken! So I'm gonna leave it as it is! And just so you know, I'm a rather huge Keith hater, so no Elliot Dudemeister pairings in this.**

Elliot sighed as she hung up on her phone conversation with Carla. She was trying to be convinced by Carla's speech, but it sounded as if her best friend was just trying to get her off her back. She was married with a daughter; she didn't know how she felt! And anyway, Elliot wasn't won over. She still thought she had made the wrong decision. Sure, JD hadn't loved Kim when she was pregnant, but he'd tried to for her and Sam's sake. Could she have done that for the sake of her and Keith's happiness?

It was just…everywhere she looked around here was a couple with kids. And she so desperately wanted that to be her! She had even once been tempted to mount Beardface (although she had gone slightly cuckoo then).

She switched on the TV, and immediately Ross and Rachel were cuddling Emma. Yet another family.

"Oh, that's just ironic!" Elliot screeched to an empty house, and switched off the TV. She could already feel the wetness of tears building up behind her eyes, causing the mascara which she had painstakingly applied to smudge and drip down her face. She angrily wiped it away.

Suddenly, she spied the cell on her desk. It was tempting to pick it up and punch in Keith's number. But in reality, she knew she wasn't strong enough to do that. She was just the weak little geek from Connecticut. No, she couldn't call Keith. But she could call someone else. She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts.

_Bradley _(the gay brother…no)

_Carla _(she was too "busy")

_Dad _(…)

_JD _(too awkward)

_Jordan _(dead inside)

_Kim _(they weren't really talking much anymore…)

_Melody _(oh come on, she macked with guys and didn't let them go further!)

_Molly _(attracted to psychopaths)

_Mom _(attracted to staff)

_Perry _(a borderline alcoholic…no)

_Todd _(why did she even have his number?)

_Turk _(on-call)

Elliot sighed, and laid her phone down. This was ridiculous. Why was everyone she knew so screwed up in their relationships? This really sucked…she had to do something about it.

In the next five second she found herself holding the phone to her ear, completely unsure of what exactly she was doing. There was the ring at the other end. It played eight times before she heard the crackle of someone picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Keith. It's me…"


	6. My First Doubts

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-****Yawn…I'm sorry this is such a slow story, but it's only a few more chapters D Sorry for any OOCness.**

Carla leant against the door of the Janitor's house, listening to the beautiful notes streaming out from the house. She couldn't bring herself to go in…not while she was listening to such wonderful music. It was bliss. She couldn't believe that the Janitor could play so damn well…

Suddenly the door opened, and she fell into Janitor's hallway.

"Ouch!" she yelled. Janitor looked down at her.

"You ok?" he asked carelessly. He wasn't holding a violin, but Carla could still hear the music. Then she noticed the CD player in the corner, and she groaned. Janitor extended his arm and helped her up. He was wearing a navy blue checked shirt, and cream pants. In fact, if Carla hadn't known he was the Janitor, she would have thought he was…well, a normal person.

"I thought that was you playing!" she said.

"Nope. That's what I have to practise though"

"Wow! You must be good!"

"Yep…"

_Wow_, thought Carla sarcastically, _what a great talker! Damn, this house is clean! Well, I guess he _is _a Janitor…or maybe Lady's a housewife? Wait, didn't they break up…?_

"Scary wife-nurse?"

Carla snapped out of her thoughts to find the Janitor snapping his fingers in front of her face. She muttered an apology, and took the violin out of her case. The Janitor took it out of her hands and began to tune it. The room was plunged into silence, aside from the metallic twang of the strings and the empty ticking of the clock on the wall.

"So…" she mumbled to herself. She was strangely uncomfortable, and she was never uncomfortable! She was Carla Espinosa, damn it, the most outgoing person she knew…

"All done!" the Janitor announced, handing the instrument back to her. Carla took it.

"Ok…" Janitor continued. "Play me what you've been practicing!"

Carla played him the notes, and then sighed.

"This is so boring!" she complained. "You can play that amazing piece, when am I going to get to do that?"

"The violin is a slow process" said Janitor. "I've had this kid coming to me for…three, four years? She's only on very basic Mozart, and I mean very, very basic. It's not just something you learn overnight. Not for the impatient"

Carla quietly groaned. But she _was_ impatient!

"Right, play those notes one more time…"


	7. My Ex's Confession

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-Penultimate chapter. Thanks for all ****lovely reviews!**

**Phantomviola-The Viola and Sebastian idea is amazing, Twelfth Night is my favourite Shakespeare play (I played Viola once), and yes I do play a violin. Actually the girl the Janitor mentioned in the lat chapter was meant to be me…**

"_Hello_?"

"Hey, Keith. It's me…"

"…_Elliot_?"

"Yeah"

"_What do you want_?"

"We need to talk…"

"_Do you want to get back together_?"

"No, Keith…"

"_G-Good! Coz I don't want to get back with you, you home-wrecking…_"

"Keith! Not now! This is important!"

Elliot held her breath. She expected to hear the crackle of her ex-fiancée putting down the phone, so she was completely surprised when he said:

"_Ok. I'm listening…_"

"Keith…do you know why I broke up with you?"

"_Because you're a skanky…_"

"**Keith, for fricks sake**! And no, that's not it. I broke up with you because I didn't love you any more, and I was just marrying you for the sake of getting married. But…do you think that if I'd married you regardless that we'd have been happy?"

There was a short silence. Then Keith spoke.

"_Frankly? I think that whether we'd been married or not we could've made it work. I proposed to you because I loved you, Elliot. Not because I wanted to be married. If you didn't want to get married you could have said so_!"

"You're not answering the question, Keith!"

"_This conversation is our wedding plans all over again! Let me finish! We could have been happy married. You could've let me make you happy instead of hurting me because I would have done anything for you_!"

Elliot sighed. She felt sorry for Keith. He was a genuinely nice guy. Maybe she had made a mistake…

"_But, Elliot…marrying me for the sake of marriage…that would've hurt me more. It would've hurt both of us_"

"Keith…I'm so sorry…"

"_Are you certain you don't want to get back together_?"

"I'm sure"

"_Why won't you love me…_!" yelled Keith, beginning to cry.

"Bye, Keith. I'll see you tomorrow"

"_I hope you don't you ugly, scheming, skanky, straw-haired pig-_"

Elliot hung up.


	8. My Final Choice

Carla sighed, and looked down at the leaflets spread in front of her on the table

**Note-****Final chapter! Yay!**

Carla was practising. And she was bored. Hearing the music that her tutor could play just made her more annoyed that she couldn't. And she was used to being able to pick up things quickly. Right now she was tempted to take the bit of wood and chuck it at the wall. She growled at yet another duff note. At least Turk wasn't at home or he would've completely taken the piss.

Izzy whimpered in her crib, and Carla went to comfort her daughter. She picked her up and cuddled her.

"I know it's a horrible noise, honey…but I'm doing it for you! I just want what's best for my lil' gherkin…damn, now Turk's got me calling you that!"

Izzy fell asleep in an instant, and Carla crept back to continue her practice. Seven more minutes…

She was so concentrated on her music that she didn't hear the door open behind her.

"Baby? What are you doing?"

Carla leapt out of her skin, and turned to face a shocked looking Turk.

"Baby!" she said. "I thought you were supposed to be at surgery?"

"Guy died on us!" said Turk. "Is that…a violin?"

"Yes, but Turk…I can explain…!"

"Is it just me or do we sound like I've walked in on you screwing someone else?" Turk smiled. Carla breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded her agreement.

"So since when did you play violin?"

"A few days…"

"Why didn't you tell me, baby?"

"I thought you'd mock and ridicule me until I took Izzy and went to live at Elliot's so you could marry JD?"

"Ok…I wouldn't mock you! You know I totally support everything you do!"

"Aww, baby!" said Carla, and she leant up to kiss her husband.

"But you do know it sounded terrible, right?"

"Turk! Oh, why am I mad at you, I know it's awful! But I can't give up, you know? I read that if children learn musical instruments it improves their intellect and I thought I'd rather teach Izzy myself then send her to a stranger for lessons!"

"Sweetie, if Izzy is anything like you she's gonna be a genius!"

"But what if she's like you! You were an average student!"

"That's cold, baby!"

"It's true! I just want what's best for our daughter!"

"Carla…trying to force the violin on Izzy isn't going to help her learn. If anything it'll make her resent it! Let her develop her own interests! But the question is…do you really want to learn the violin, or do you just want to prove that you can learn a musical instrument?"

Carla sighed. She looked over at her baby sleeping in the crib. Then she turned to look at the piece of wood on the table.

The next day the Janitor woke up to find a violin shaped package on his porch.

**Note-I'm not satisfied with this. I think the ending was rushed, there was no wrapping-up to Elliot's story and I think the whole thing was slightly dull. But what do you think? Review me, and I'll see you at my next story!**


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